The bodies of 58 officers massacred in a mutiny by the Bangladesh Rifles
border security force have been discovered in a mass grave at the regiment's
Dhaka headquarters.

Officials earlier found a further 22 bodies in sewers, ponds, and shallow graves as they searched for 137 officers missing and feared dead. Last night, the government announced two days of national mourning as the official death toll edged towards 100.

Colonel Rezaul Karim of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion said the mass grave had been dug close to the regiment's hospital building inside the headquarters and the fresh earth had been covered with leaves to hide it.

Brigadier Abu Naim Shahidullah, a senior officer leading the search said: "We are digging out dozens of decomposing bodies dumped into mass graves. We are still taking the bodies out." All of the victims had been officers wearing combat fatigues, he added.

The scale of the massacre emerged amid widespread praise for prime minister Sheikh Hasina's handling of the crisis. She had faced criticism for offering a general amnesty in talks with the mutiny leaders, but observers said the death toll could have been higher had she not made the concession and later deployed tanks to finally end the rebellion.

More than 200 mutineers fleeing Dhaka in civilian clothes were arrested by troops as they searched buses and trucks for the culprits.

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The families of the missing gathered at the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters to wait for news as details of the scale of the carnage emerged from inside.

Atiqul Islam, a Dhaka University student who had learned that one of his relatives was among the dead, said: "Bodies have been stuffed into manholes, thrown into ponds and tanks, while those alive were hiding even in dirty sewer drains." One survivor, Lt Colonel Syed Kamruzzaman, told reporters he had witnessed the murder of his regiment's commanding officer, Major General Shakil Ahmed, who was shot dead. He said the mutiny had been pre-planned and timed for the arrival of BDR officers from all over the country for a regimental meeting. "It was cold-blooded murder. They hurled abuse at us and gunned down whoever they wanted. I was shot at seven times and was lucky to get out alive," he said.

The mutineers began their two day killing spree on Wednesday morning as the officers met in the BDR's 'Durbar' conference hall. Witnesses said they began shooting indiscriminately, wiping out the regiment's high command.

Their leaders were later called for talks with the prime minister and the army chief of staff and were offered a general amnesty if they ended their revolt and surrendered their weapons. They were also promised an investigation into their complaints of poor pay and promotion prospects and abuses by officers seconded to the force from the Army.

Her initial concession appeared to have quelled the revolt, but violence flared again on Thursday as BDR troops said they feared Army retaliation for their rebellion. The mutiny was finally brought to an end when the prime minister sent in tanks to surround the barracks and warned Riflemen not to test her patience.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina appeared to back away from her earlier promise and vowed to bring the culprits to justice as the scale of the massacre emerged. "They committed a heinous crime. It will be investigated and legal actions will follow. Such acts cannot be condoned," she said after visiting the wounded in hospital.

Her approach was praised by the country's media which said she had shown skill in appearing to concede to the mutineers' demands while offering only vague promises. By later threatening overwhelming force, she had brought the revolt to a speedy end without alienating the army or encouraging further rebellion, they said.

Dhaka University professor Ataur Rahman said the allowing the mutineers to go unpunished would have destabilised the country. "The BDR mutiny amounted to a national security breach, which cannot be compromised or be taken for a just-let-it-go issue," he said. "It may have a destabilising effect on other security institutions and may also destabilise the country."